Rotary explosion-engine.



f F. n. LENNEN. RTARY EXPLOSION ENGINE.

APPL'ICATIN FILED IULY 2. 1915. 1,201,836. Patented 0151.111916. 2'SHEETS-SHEETI.

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@11 mfg/mdf F. D. LENNEN.

ROTARY EXPLOSION ENGINE. 'APPLICATION FILED 1uLY 2. 1915.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

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FRANK I). LENNEN, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

IROTARY EXPLOSION-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.` Patented Oct. 17, 1916,

i Application mea :muy 2, 1915. seria1 N0.37,733.

To allwkom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK D. LENNEN, a citizen of the' United States, residing at Easton, in the'county of Northampton and 5 Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rotary Explosion-Engines, of which the following'is a specification'.

'I his invention relates to rotary explosionl `engines oninternal combustionI engines of tionary rotor casing, a rotor mounted therein, and means. for introducing exploded gas into the rotor chamber to act successively on the blades of the rotor.

The chief object ofthe present invention is to provide in connection with such anengine, means operating automaticallyto compress air, force the fuel under pressure to at combined mixing and combustion' chamber; also forcing air l.under pressure to said chamber, igniting said mixture and-directing the same againstthe rotor and nally through an exhaust port to the atmosphere.

With the above and other objects in view,

lthe. invention consists in the novel construc tion, combination and arrangement -of parts, as herein described, illustrated andv claimed. In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1' is a vertical longitudinal section through an engine embodying thepresent invention. Fig. 2'is a diametrical section through the same showing the shaft and vcertain parts inelevation. Fig. 3is a side elevation of the rotor and its blades, showing the Vpacking rings and strips therefor. Fig..4 is a cross lsection through one of the rotor blades.

showing the packing .means Fig. -5vis a fragmentary-.plan view showing the pump plunger operating mechanism. y The rotor casing as illustrated in Figs. 1

and 2 comprises an outer annular main body `or peripheral section 1 formed with a Water' space or jacket2 and having secured to opi posite sides thereof the casing headsv 3 and 4 both of w'hich are preferably 'formed separately fromthe section 1 of the casing and 'secured xedly thereto by screws or bolts 5.1

- vThe casing thusformed lprovides a'- rotor chamber 6 in which is mounted a rotor comprising a main body or hub 7 having extending outwardly therefrom a circular1 series of blades or Wings 8 shown as curvilinear in cross section in order to obtain the best effect of the expanding gas which impinges against the concaved faces of the the turbine type wherein' is employed a stablades as indicated 'in Fig. 1. vThe rotor is mounted fast on a rotary shaft 9 which passes through the heads 3 and 4 of the casing and 1s journaled in one or. more bearings 10 v-at opposite sides thereof andl supported in any suitable'manner. A

11 designates a key by means of which the rotor is fastened to the shaft 9. r

A portion of the rotor casing is offset preferably at the top as shown at 12 and a combined mixing and combustion chamber 13 shown as cylindrical `in' cross section is mounted upon the rotor casing, the chamber" 13 being provided with a base flange 14 for that purpose. The chamber 13 is closed at both ends but one end portion of the cylinderwvhich-v forms the combustion chamber is provided with a pump chamber 15 separated from the combustion chamber 13 by means `of a ported wall or partition 16`the port 17 of which is opened and closed by meansof the stem 20 of said check valve, theend of the stem 20b'eing-slidable in an opening 21 in one of the heads of the cylindrical casing of the `pump chamber and combustion chamber.

plunger- 22 which extends outwardly throughthe adjacent head of the chamberl whereit is provided with a head 23 behind which is arranged a coiled expansion spring 24 for'moving the plunger 22 to the initial end l of its stroke. '.Coperating; with the plunger 22 is a rock shaft 25 havlng at one end an arm .which operates the plunger 22 Ia' check valve 18 which is held normally y lseated by means of a spring 19 encirclingand at the other end.' an arm which `1s operated upon by a cam 26 fast'on the engine shaft 9, said cam 26 serving to periodically operate the plunger 2 2 on its Working stroke, the plunger being retracted by'means of the spring 24 referred to. f

27 representsa fuel tank in which hydrocarbon oil may be placed and forced under pressure toaJ feed pipe 28 into the pump chanb'ei' 15, back iowof the fuel being prevented by means of a check valve 29.

30 designates an air compressor the air from which is forced through a pipe 31 into the fuel tank 27. Air is also forced through the air pipe 32 containing'a back pressure check valve 33 into the combined and combustion chamber 13.

24' represents an igniter shown in the. form of an ordinary spark plug for ignitmxing ing the compressed mixture in theA combustion chamber.

In order to prevent leakage of the expanding mixture around the sides of the.

l site directions and against the inner surfaces of the casing heads 3- and 4 by meansof expansicn springs 38 extending through openings 39in the hub and wings of the rotor as shown in Fig. .4.

The operation of the engine is as follows: To primarily start the engine, it is necessary to pump a certain amount of air under pres- .sure intov the fuel tank 27, the lpressure therein being afterward maintained by the air compressor which is driven by any suitable means from the engine shaft. The fuel passes through the feed pipe 28 into the pump chambei` and is intermittently injected into the combined mixing and vcombustion chamber 13 and simultaneously therewith air under pressure is forced through the pipe 32 into said chamber.- The compressed mixture of air and oil is then ignited at the proper intervals and quickly exhausts byexpanding through, the passage leading from the combustion chamber into the rotor chamber. In the last named v chamber it acts against the concaved sides of the wings 8 and. finally passes out through'the exhaust port 40 to the atmosphere. The outer edges of the wings 8 are arranged at such al dis! tance from the inside periphery of the rotor casing that the gas may escape between said Y edges andthe casing and reach the exhaust port. I

ple in construction, eicient 'in operation,

embodiesa minimum number of parts and is self-starting after a certain amount of pressure is obtained inv the fuel tank. Thisinitialpressure may be produced by mea-ns ofl a hand pump or any .other suitable device. After the mixing chamber reaches a certain temperature, the engine will operate under kerosene as well as gasolene.l The engine is i' v smooth in its running qualities and is prac- The enginehereinabove described is sim-V tically noiseless there being no valves or valve rods. i

' While I have only shown asingle mixing and combustion chamber, it will of course be understood that two or more of such chambers may be used, arranged at intervals around the rotor casing and furthermore, one or more rotors and casings may be provided in connection with the same engine shaft 9 thereby multiplying the power of the engine/as a whole. Where the engine is used on an automobile and subjected to vibration and jolting, instead of pumping the air directly from the compressor to the fuel tank, an air storage tank may lbe used .in conjunction with and located between the air compressor. and the fuel tank 27 or the tank 27 may be made of suiiicient size to admit of a partition dividing the tank into an Vair storage chamberand a fuel chamber.

What I claim is Ina rotary explosion engine, the combination of a rotor, a shaft on which said. rotor is fast, a substantially cylindricall rotor cas-v ing through `which said shaft passes, a

combined mixing and combustion cham l ber located exteriorly of the rotor casing and provided with a passage leading therefrom. into the rotor casin and disposed at an angle -to the radius o the rotor, wingson said rotor which successively pass by said passage, a pump chamber at one end of the combustion chamber, a partition between vsaid combustion chamber and pumpv chamber,-a sp1-ing seated back pressure check valve in said partition, a plunger operating in said pump chamber, a fuel supply tank,

-an air compressor communicating with said tank, a fuel'feed pipe leading from said tank to the pump chamber and containing a check valve, a compressed air pipe communicating with said combustion chamber, means for ignting the charge in the-combustion chamber, a cam on therotor shaft, and means operated thereby for effecting a workingstroke f of said'pluliger for each blade of the rotor.

In testimon' vwhereof I aiix my signature in presence o two witnesses. l l).` LENNEN.

Witnesses-z l CHAsB. BRUNNER,

FRANK FLYNN.` 

